-Malvina Marie Elisabeth Grassmann Gall Biography-

Malvina Marie Elisabeth Grassmann was born on August 22, 1867 in Wolcottsville, Royalton, Niagara County, New York. She was the daughter of immigrants from Mecklenburg in Northern Germany (an area of Germany that was part of Prussia when they were born), Michael Friedrich Grassmann and Dorothea Sophia Christine Bolzmann Grassmann.

Her father, Michael Grassmann, was born on November 13, 1829 in Prenzlau, Mecklenburg, Germany, the son of Fred Grassmann and Marie Page Grassmann. He immigrated to Erie or Niagara County, New York in 1857 with his first wife, Friedericke Wilhelmine Witte Grassmann. They had three children, William, Bertha Grassmann (1860-1911) and Karoline Auguste Grassmann (born in 1861). His wife died soon after the birth of their second child.

Michael married Dorothea Sophia Christine Bolzmann circa 1864 in Royalton, Niagara County, New York. She was born on September 2, 1842 in Sukow, Kreis Parchim, Mecklenburg, Germany, the daughter of Johann Bolzmann and Anna Ohms.

The Grassmann family relocated to Sebewaing, Huron County, Michigan in 1871, where Michael was a landowner and farmer.

-Family of Michael Friedrich Grassmann-

Michael Friedrich Grassmann was born November 13, 1829 in Prenzlau, Mecklenburg, Prussia, and died February 13, 1907 in Sebewaing, Huron County, Michigan. He married (1) Friedericke Wilhelmine Witte bef. 1857 in Prenzlau, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Prussia. She was born on January 26, 1834 in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany, and died bef. 1864 in Niagara County, New York. He married (2) Dorothea Sophia Christine Bolzmann on November 25, 1864 in Royalton, Niagara County, New York.

The children of Michael Grassmann and Friedericke Witte were:

• Bertha Grassmann, born April 3, 1860 in Niagara County or Tonawanda, Erie County, New York; died May 11, 1911 in Sebewaing, Huron County, Michigan. She married John (Johann) Schairer ca. 1885 in Sebewaing, Huron County, Michigan; born August 2, 1860; died December 31, 1938.
• Karoline Auguste Grassmann, born December 24, 1861 in Niagara County, New York.

The children of Michael Grassmann and Dorothea Bolzmann were:

• Maria Magdalena Grassmann, born September 11, 1865 in Wolcottsville, Royalton, Niagara County, New York; died aft. June 1880.
• Malvina Marie Elisabeth Grassmann, born August 22, 1867 in Wolcottsville, Royalton, Niagara County, New York; died June 24, 1959 in Sebewaing, Huron County, Michigan. She married Carl Gustav Reinhold Gall February 23, 1888 in Sebewaing, Huron County, Michigan; born July 9, 1862 in Radischen, Reg. Bezirk Liegnitz, Schlesien, Preußen, Germany; died July 22, 1940 in Sebewaing, Huron County, Michigan.
• Johannes Friedrich Wilhelm Grassmann, born September 10, 1869 in Wolcottsville, Royalton, Niagara County, New York; died Bef. August 1952.
• Ida Rosina Malvina Grassmann, born July 24, 1871 in Wolcottsville, Royalton, Niagara County, New York; died March 1, 1948 in Sebewaing, Huron County, Michigan. She married Gustav H. Pankratz bef. 1898 in Sebewaing, Huron County, Michigan; born September 20, 1866; died November 18, 1933 in Sebewaing, Huron County, Michigan.
• Ernst Friedrich Wilhelm Grassmann, born August 24, 1873 in Sebewaing, Huron County, Michigan; died in 1959 in Sebewaing, Huron County, Michigan. His wife, Alma, was born on March 29, 1876 in Michigan; she died on June 22, 1926 in Michigan.
• Herman G. Grassmann, born August 15, 1876 in Sebewaing, Huron County, Michigan; died December 19, 1938 in Sebewaing, Huron County, Michigan. He married Alma L. ________ ca. 1906 in Michigan; born March 29, 1876; died June 22, 1926 in Sebewaing, Huron County, Michigan.
• Gustav Theodor Friedrich Grassmann, born December 3, 1878 in Sebewaing, Huron County, Michigan; died April 18, 1936 in Sebewaing, Huron County, Michigan.
• Nellie Grassmann, born August 1886 in Sebewaing, Huron County, Michigan.

Michael died on February 13, 1907 and Dorothea died March 24, 1913 in Sebewaing, Michigan.

Malvina married Carl GUSTAV Reinhold Gall in Sebewaing on February 23, 1888. He was born in Silesia (possibly in Radischen, Reg. Bezirk Liegnitz, Prussia) on July 9, 1862, the son of Karl Heinrich Gall (1822-1882) and Maria Rosina Kunisch Gall (1827-1869), who were married in the Evangelical Church in Kaiserswaldau on February 5, 1850. He was baptized at the Evangelical Church in Ober Hausdorf, Siliesia, Prussia on July 29, 1862.

Gustav had five siblings, a sister Pauline Henriette (1850-1925), three brothers Wilhelm (1851-1929), Herman (1856-1937), and Robert (1866-1940), and a younger half sister Ottilie (1876-1928). The family relocated from Silesia to Pomerania before September 24, 1876, when Gustav was confirmed at the Evangelical Church, Kölpin, Groß-Mokratz, Kreis Usedom, Pomerania.

Gustav, his three brothers, and their younger sister Ottilie emigrated from Pomerania to Michigan in the 1880s.
Gustav and Malvina owned a farm in Sebewaing and had four children, Emma Bertha Maria (1888-1975), Amanda Rosina (1889-1981), Ernest Gustav (1892-1951), and Helena Libby Ernstine (1894-1986). They adopted a fifth child, Ferdinand Marten (1905-1995).

Gustav was listed as a house builder, carpenter, landowner, and farmer in several Michigan census references. He and Malvina remained in close contact with their extended family, including many relatives who had immigrated from Germany, for their entire lives.

Gustav died in Sebewaing on July 22, 1940. He was interred at the New Salem Cemetery in Sebewaing. The inscription on his headstone is: "Gustav R. Gall, Father, Emmanuel Luth. Church - 1 John 4, 14 - July 9, 1862 - July 22, 1940"; this verse is: "... whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall become in him a well of water springing up unto eternal life."

Malvina died on June 24, 1959, at the age of 91. She is buried in the New Salem Cemetery, beside her husband in the Gall-Grassmann section of the cemetery.